Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Anthony Minghella (1954-2008)

I was extremely sad to hear today's news that British director, Anthony Minghella passed away at the young age of 54. As the director of two of the most stylishly filmed movies of the previous decade, The English Patient and The Talented Mr. Ripley, Minghella possessed that rare ability to turn dark source material into a work of poetry and beauty. War and murder aside, the exotic set locations, music, period costumes and complex stories in each of his films combined to form some of the most engaging movie scenes in my memory.

The Director's comments that accompany the DVD versions of these two films are truly engrossing for the design and film fan. I own both and watch them over and over again. We will miss the talented Mr. Minghella.

12 comments:

I was shocked and saddened to hear of his passing. Thank you for posting a tribute to one of our most talented directors ever.I was in an airline lounge at LAX with my daughter and husband years ago while waiting for a flight to Rome. Seated in the lounge was Matt Damon and a male friend who watched tv and smoked. We did not approach him but a loud, obnoxious fan did and found out he was on his way to Rome to film Ripley with Minghella. My heart raced.

What a nice tribute to this extraordinarily talented, good man. This is a terrible loss. I read that his last film, The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (which is supposed to be amazing), will air this Sunday in the UK.

Great post. Thank you. Last year I saw the artwork in the top photo. It's from Piero della Francesca's Story of the True Cross in Arezzo, Tuscany. What Minghella does with it in that film is breathtaking!